As Hanoi Adds Capacity, Rates Begin To Weaken
<B> As Hanoi Adds Capacity, Rates Begin To Weaken</B>
By Judy Jacobs
<I>Hanoi</I> - New properties coming online in Vietnam's capital--including the Meritus Westlake Hotel, which will complete construction next month--already are bringing down average room rates of business hotels in the city.
Meritus Hotels & Resorts, formerly Singapore Mandarin International Hotels & Resorts, in late February soft-opened 100 rooms of the Meritus Westlake, its new property in Hanoi and its first in Vietnam. The Singapore- headquartered Meritus has a portfolio of 14 hotels, including the Marina Mandarin Singapore, the Hotel Istana in Kuala Lumpur, the Pelangi Beach Resort in Langkawi and the Shanghai JC Mandarin.
The Hanoi hotel is located between West Lake--the largest lake in the country--and the Song Hong River and Truc Back Lake. It is just 10 minutes from downtown and adjacent to the city's embassy and government office district. Meritus at the same time opened a North American sales office, and appointed former VIK Global Marketing Inc. head Victor Koi as its new Los Angeles area-based regional director of sales for North America.
The Meritus Westlake is targeting business travelers and is offering an introductory rate of $88 until August, when it will be fully complete. "We're looking at a market mix of 70 percent corporate and 30 percent leisure travelers," said Sheena Shee, the hotel's director of sales. To cater to corporate travelers, the hotel has a business center, already operational, and will add two Meritus Club floors this summer.
The Meritus and other properties coming up are expected to help bring down Hanoi hotel room rates, which currently average $160. "Hotel rates in Hanoi have dropped 10-20 percent this year. Before, Daewu and the Sofitel (Metropole) were the only deluxe hotels, but now there are several more. Horizon Hotel opened last November, we opened in February and Sheraton will also open a hotel this year," Shee said.
In addition to business travelers, the Meritus West Lake is "concentrating its F&B efforts on the meeting and incentive markets," Shee said. The hotel has a ballroom that accommodates 520 theater style or 400 for sit-down banquets, as well as four meeting rooms, each named after a major Vietnamese city and accommodating between 30 and 55 attendees, either theater- or banquet-style.